Personal Account: Danielli Does the Math

By Danielli Alejos

February 10, 2010

As you may have guessed from my debut post, I'm not the best at setting goals. In fact, it has been hard to live up to my goal of... setting some goals.

To me, setting any kind of goal was always a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they're motivating. Nothing gets me more excited than dreaming about my future house, with bay windows and a treehouse out back for my 2.5 kids. On the other hand, goals are intimidating, serving as a reminder of how far behind I am and how much farther I need to go.

At that point, my optimism gets swallowed by how overwhelmed I feel. So I bail.

But not this time. I'm going to be more realistic. Sure, I can still think big. But I have to think small too—and I've been trying. To avoid setting myself up for failure, I've realized that I must aim for goals within my means. I want to pay off my debts ASAP, but the reality is that while my fiance is still looking for work, I am paying all our bills—and can just cover the minimums on my cards and student loans (he doesn't have debt, thankfully).

The first step last month was to take a critical look at my financial situation, and write down all my expenses. Then I had to assess the whole picture, to see what goals are realistic for me right now.

The $326 was the good news I wasn't expecting. I'm not as broke as I thought!

Two months ago, I would have considered that $326 "free for all" money, and I would have spent it all on happy hour drinks, dinners out, weekend trips, clothes for my English Bulldog.

Those days are gone now. I'm a gal with goals (ahem).

I really want to get out of debt and save some money, so I'm going to put $100 extra toward my credit cards and $100 into savings each month. My goals seem pretty small and insignificant, but I have to start somewhere. And this, I think I can handle. I just have to keep reminding myself that these small moves add up. Even though I'm not making huge leaps, at least I'm still moving forward.

Thank you to my fellow DW readers for the comments and support you all offered on my last post. It was great hearing your personal stories, tips and advice. Let's continue to help and learn from each other. What are some of your goals? How do you plan on achieving them?